Despite the long, awkward silence, Take-Two Interactive says that work on the XCom shooter is still underway.

It's been a rough ride for XCom - the shooter, that is, not the Enemy Unknown. Fans weren't too happy to learn that the new XCom game they'd waited for so long was a prequel shooter, and then came rumors of trouble at developer 2K Marin, two separate but very lengthy delays and more rumors that the game was being changed from an FPS into a budget-priced third-person shooter. And then, an eerie silence.

It's the kind of treatment that might make a person think Take-Two was looking to wash its hands of the whole thing, but the company made a point of mentioning the game today during a financial call. "2K Marin continues to make progress on XCom," the publisher said, which admittedly isn't much to go on, but at least it's an acknowledgment that it actually exists. It also still holds a spot on the Take-Two launch schedule, albeit with a very vague "FY 2014" launch date, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

I still think the XCom shooter, at least in its original guise, looks like a really intriguing idea and with the success of XCom: Enemy Unknown demonstrating significant interest in the franchise, my hope is that these long delays are a sign that Take-Two is committed to doing more with it than just shoveling it out the door on the cheap.

Ldude893:I just don't get why they tried turning a turn-based strategy game into a generic shooter in the first place. It's as if they were instinctively trying to make an XCOM game that was NOT an XCOM game.

Oh wait, I forgot, any game in a franchise that doesn't follow the exact same formula time and time again is instantly god-awful! How silly of me!

To be fair, fans of a given series are fans because they like what a series offers. If you change the things they like into things they might not like, how are the fans supposed to react?

Fans of this series were fans of an entirely different genre than a FPS, and with so many FPSs saturating the market, I wager seeing their TBS turned into another FPS wasn't pleasant news. Besides, people who like TBSs tend to play differently than people who like FPSs. That's not to say there is no cross over, but the genres require different play styles.

It's like turning Tetris into a space fighter game. The fans of Tetris wanted to enjoy a puzzle game, not a space fighter.

DVS BSTrD:They better have improved the graphics quality over the original trailer. The lighting was sharp enough to cut through Ted Nugent's skull.

Great, now I have Cat Scratch Fever stuck in my head...Dammit!

I really don't care what happens now. I got my new X-COM and it wasn't this. Let history be judge of what will be remembered. I still say the idea of a central protagonist who's death is a fail state is anathema to the core of X-COM's greatness.

Well, I make the pussy purr with the stroke of my handThey know they gettin' it from meThey know just where to go when they need their lovin' manThey know I'm doin' it for free

Oh wait, I forgot, any game in a franchise that doesn't follow the exact same formula time and time again is instantly god-awful! How silly of me!

To be fair, fans of a given series are fans because they like what a series offers. If you change the things they like into things they might not like, how are the fans supposed to react?

Fans of this series were fans of an entirely different genre than a FPS, and with so many FPSs saturating the market, I wager seeing their TBS turned into another FPS wasn't pleasant news. Besides, people who like TBSs tend to play differently than people who like FPSs. That's not to say there is no cross over, but the genres require different play styles.

It's like turning Tetris into a space fighter game. The fans of Tetris wanted to enjoy a puzzle game, not a space fighter.

The game may not suck... but it's not what the fans want.

This might sound harsh, but... too bad. Seriously, how are we going to get anywhere if we spend all our time curtailing to EXACTLY what fans want?

i am really excited about this game i liked enemy unknown (even if i did get it thinking it was this one (damn you GMG and your ridiculously good deals and my not thinking when impulse buying)) and this game looks pretty cool too i was worried that it had been killed somewhere along the way quiet like by some sort of stealthy assassin or corporate executive or other type of evil psycho killer

trty00:Good. I thought the game looked interesting, and I'm glad it's still on track.

Oh wait, I forgot, any game in a franchise that doesn't follow the exact same formula time and time again is instantly god-awful! How silly of me!

It has to have enough in common: either in gameplay, plot or game world. If you make something completely different, why not just give it a new name?

This game is completely different in gameplay, and apart from being about aliens invading earth, doesn't have much to do with the plot of previous X-COM games, and the game world is completely different due to the new time period and completely different aliens.

For many people, including myself, this game doesn't seem to have enough in common with previous X-COM games. If they wouldn't have named it XCOM, nobody would have a problem with it.

trty00:Good. I thought the game looked interesting, and I'm glad it's still on track.

Oh wait, I forgot, any game in a franchise that doesn't follow the exact same formula time and time again is instantly god-awful! How silly of me!

It has to have enough in common: either in gameplay, plot or game world. If you make something completely different, why not just give it a new name?

This game is completely different in gameplay, and apart from being about aliens invading earth, doesn't have much to do with the plot of previous X-COM games, and the game world is completely different due to the new time period and completely different aliens.

For many people, including myself, this game doesn't seem to have enough in common with previous X-COM games. If they wouldn't have named it XCOM, nobody would have a problem with it.

Or, you know, you could... just ignore it completely and not get upset over something so trivial. This game does not instantly negate the existence of the previous titles, so go play those.

trty00:Good. I thought the game looked interesting, and I'm glad it's still on track.

Oh wait, I forgot, any game in a franchise that doesn't follow the exact same formula time and time again is instantly god-awful! How silly of me!

It has to have enough in common: either in gameplay, plot or game world. If you make something completely different, why not just give it a new name?

This game is completely different in gameplay, and apart from being about aliens invading earth, doesn't have much to do with the plot of previous X-COM games, and the game world is completely different due to the new time period and completely different aliens.

For many people, including myself, this game doesn't seem to have enough in common with previous X-COM games. If they wouldn't have named it XCOM, nobody would have a problem with it.

Or, you know, you could... just ignore it completely and not get upset over something so trivial. This game does not instantly negate the existence of the previous titles, so go play those.

It seems that people like to assume that because I take the time to provide my insight, I'm upset. I'm not. Just procrastinating and using this forum as an excuse to not do anything productive between gaming sessions.

It's just that people don't appreciate these efforts to get their money by using a brand name and not delivering what is expected of a product of that brand. Tolerating this sort of business practice encourages companies to use it. If it bothers you that much that people care about it, you can always follow your own advice and ignore it and read another post.

trty00:Good. I thought the game looked interesting, and I'm glad it's still on track.

Oh wait, I forgot, any game in a franchise that doesn't follow the exact same formula time and time again is instantly god-awful! How silly of me!

It has to have enough in common: either in gameplay, plot or game world. If you make something completely different, why not just give it a new name?

This game is completely different in gameplay, and apart from being about aliens invading earth, doesn't have much to do with the plot of previous X-COM games, and the game world is completely different due to the new time period and completely different aliens.

For many people, including myself, this game doesn't seem to have enough in common with previous X-COM games. If they wouldn't have named it XCOM, nobody would have a problem with it.

I'm curious if they've changed it to look more like EU. So rather a prequal they end up releasing a FPS xcom:EU. would be interesting to see.

All I can say is that if it doesn't have a type of creature that is like the Chyrsallid I won't be buying it, they made my games hell but damn if it didn't increase the tension of the game and make it all that more enjoyable.

This might sound harsh, but... too bad. Seriously, how are we going to get anywhere if we spend all our time curtailing to EXACTLY what fans want?

How are we going to get anywhere when you have to rebuild your fan-base from scratch because you pissed off the existing fan-base?

As I already said, this new game does not negate the existence of previous titles, if this new iteration makes them that enraged, then they can completely ignore it and go play the previous titles.

Look, I'm trying my best not to sound like some artsy-fartsy dope, but all I can say is that video games are an artistic medium and they need to be given room to grow. Fan service is nice, but you can't really progress if that's all you want to focus on. If you want to be like Nintendo and just feed nostalgia, go right ahead, but don't expect me to consider your games truly interesting by any stretch.

It has to have enough in common: either in gameplay, plot or game world. If you make something completely different, why not just give it a new name?

This game is completely different in gameplay, and apart from being about aliens invading earth, doesn't have much to do with the plot of previous X-COM games, and the game world is completely different due to the new time period and completely different aliens.

For many people, including myself, this game doesn't seem to have enough in common with previous X-COM games. If they wouldn't have named it XCOM, nobody would have a problem with it.

Or, you know, you could... just ignore it completely and not get upset over something so trivial. This game does not instantly negate the existence of the previous titles, so go play those.

It seems that people like to assume that because I take the time to provide my insight, I'm upset. I'm not. Just procrastinating and using this forum as an excuse to not do anything productive between gaming sessions.

It's just that people don't appreciate these efforts to get their money by using a brand name and not delivering what is expected of a product of that brand. Tolerating this sort of business practice encourages companies to use it. If it bothers you that much that people care about it, you can always follow your own advice and ignore it and read another post.

I already said this, but I think video games are more than just products to be shilled out. Video games are more to me than just some thing to keep the status quo happy and feed nostalgia. I think we should actively strive to be more than that.

But the point is, typically when a product is branded with a title that isn't related to it in some way, it's a sign the people making the product don't have confidence enough to let it stand on its own merit.

So if the Publisher and Developer think they can't sell this thing without adding a brand name too it, and one which at the time had very little cache with the players of FPS games, well, lets just say it usually means; "something is rotten in Kislev."

I've stood by a lot of weird directions for established series to go (Dynasty Warriors Gundam, Battle Isle: Infestation, Tenchi in Tokyo), but usually there is some context for it to travel in that direction (except Tenchi in Tokyo, that was.... interesting). But a 30's set Alien invasion FPS with cool aliens that look like the Angels from Evangelion.... and don't get me wrong it looks very cool, isn't what X-Com is.

You have to remember, games though an artistic medium, are like movies, they are products to sell and if you can't market it for what it is, you slap a name people recognise on it (ala; Troll 2... I need me some of that Nilbog milk).

That said, may not be X-Com as I know it, but my god did it look damn cool.

BETRA... ahem... after Enemy Unknown wich, to my understanding (and after playing the demo) was pretty cool and had some degree of success, the shooter doesn't sound so bad now and it could compliment Enemy Unknown pretty good.

Nintendo executives are scratching their heads and wondering what all the fuss is about.

Fans of the franchise got there Turn based strategy (that from all accounts was meh) so I think they should be able to do whatever they like now that they have the obligatory fan-want game out of the way.

Meh, I have enough shooters. And with Enemy Unknown, I'm good for XCOM games. If people want it then more power to them, hope it does well and that people enjoy it, but the shooter just doesn't interest me at all. Ideally there would be both this incarnation of the franchise and the turn-based version, both existing at once. That'd be neat.

It looked a lot like the Brothers In Arms mechanics set in the XCom universe... which I find pretty cool.

I've always liked the XCom premise but I've always found the game mechanics to be clunky and not very immersive. Being able to play from the first person perspective of an on-the-ground soldier/captain trying to fight an enemy that can not be understood in its motive or its method scratches an itch I didn't know I had.

Here is the good of it. The people who like the universe and the turn base nature, they are happy. Seeing as though most of the market is in the FPS market, seems like a good idea. Gets the brand to keep on going forward. The thing is if you don't like the FPS flavor, you know what, you have the RTS flavor. You got what you want. Trying something in a new flavor would increase the brand recognizing. Which justify making more DLC for Enemy Unknown, or better yet another one of that. Having the brand be set in different ways sounds good.

The bad of it, there is another FPS. Which sucks if you are an XCOM fan. Since that isn't what you wanted.

The thing is, that is ok. The people that like the FPS get what they want, and the XCOM fans get something they wanted. Hell maybe later down the road maybe the two could converge. Where you either play it the RTS method, or switch to the FPS which you control a single character while the AI controls the rest. So that whatever you like, you be happy.

Which I think was the initial goal here. I hope things work out for them. Hell if it doesn't work out, atleast they tried something different. That is more then what you can say about other brands.

Rellik San:But the point is, typically when a product is branded with a title that isn't related to it in some way, it's a sign the people making the product don't have confidence enough to let it stand on its own merit.

So if the Publisher and Developer think they can't sell this thing without adding a brand name too it, and one which at the time had very little cache with the players of FPS games, well, lets just say it usually means; "something is rotten in Kislev."

I've stood by a lot of weird directions for established series to go (Dynasty Warriors Gundam, Battle Isle: Infestation, Tenchi in Tokyo), but usually there is some context for it to travel in that direction (except Tenchi in Tokyo, that was.... interesting). But a 30's set Alien invasion FPS with cool aliens that look like the Angels from Evangelion.... and don't get me wrong it looks very cool, isn't what X-Com is.

You have to remember, games though an artistic medium, are like movies, they are products to sell and if you can't market it for what it is, you slap a name people recognise on it (ala; Troll 2... I need me some of that Nilbog milk).

That said, may not be X-Com as I know it, but my god did it look damn cool.

But what about when it gets to the point that the only tangible reason people seem to dislike something is because it has an inappropriate title? "Troll 2" is bad beyond the fact that it has nothing to do with trolls. But, what about Ang Lee's "Hulk?" can you name a tangible reason as to why that movie deserves it's negative reception, one that has nothing to do with the fact that it doesn't play out like a "comic book movie?" There wasn't that much known about this game before it disappeared into the wild blue yonder, other than the fact that it wasn't a TBS. It sounded like they had interesting mechanics in mind, but the fact that the basic genre template was something different was apparently enough to incur the wrath of a million suns.

I'm not ignorant, I know that games and movies have a business side, as well as an artistic side, but, and I've now said this three times: if the very thought of this X-Com sends flying into a rage, don't play it. This title does not negate the existence of earlier titles.